Ultra Series/Cultural References/Anime and Manga
Wonder Island is a two part one-shot manga written by Akira Toriyama. It is notable for being Toriyama's first published manga. The setting of this manga, Wonder Island, appears later on in Dr. Slump. In the second chapter, while waiting for Dirty Harry's arrival, Gyaosu and his men play war between Ultraman and Godzilla. This second chapter of Wonder Island is a second chance given to Akira Toriyama by his editor Kazuhiko Torishima to demonstrates his talents. Toriyama introduces many references to popular culture in this chapter (Godzilla, Ultraman, Astro Boy, King Kong, Star Wars). Despite this, the manga will not gain the sympathy of the Shōnen Jump readers. Mobile Suit Gundam MSM-07 Z'Gok mobile suit had it's design based on Alien Zarab. Of course, Tsuburaya would return the favor with two characters themed after two mobile suits: Apatee based on MS-06 Zaku II and Gan Q based on MSM-04 Acguy. Kinnikuman In Kinnikuman, the Ultra Brothers are on vacation. Dr. Slump Dr. Slump manga, later adapted into anime series Dr. Slump & Arale-chan written by Akira Toriyama, features several characters and references in the Ultra Series. In the first manga, Akira's chibi caricature of the original Ultraman was shown. While in the first episode of the anime series, Ultraman was seen pulling up the sun with his fishing rod. Ultraseven appeared in every episode at the start of the series during the introduction. Arale Norikami, the main character is a big fan of the original Ultraman series and often pretends to be him. At one instance, in the 18th chapter of the manga and the second part of the sixth episode named Arale is Kidnapped!, while Arale was (unknowingly) kidnapped with Gatchan by a bank robber, she thought that the robber wanted to play so she pretend to be the original Ultraman. In the 24 chapter, Barber Shop Panic: Part 2, a female cop named Polly Buckets sang Ultraman no Uta, Ultraman's opening song. While an old woman wants Gyaosu's microphone, Ultraseven made a cameo appearance in the back. Several characters in the Penguin Village seems to have tributes to the Ultra Series' characters. Among them are Nekotoraman and Nekotora-7. Alien Baltan rarely shown hanging on a tree. In 82nd chapter, Space Patrol Squad, a group of comical alien invaders rode a spaceship that resembles Ultraman's head. Dragonball The manga later anime series of Dragonball written by Akira Toriyama featured the female character Chi-Chi, whom as a child worn a helmet that allowed her to initiate attacks that similar to Ultraseven's Emerium Ray and Eye Slugger. In one episode, she comically uses the move 'Stay Away From Me!' to launch the Eye Slugger into Roshi's forehead, and although he was none the worse for wear, he had to wear a large plaster over the wound for the rest of the episode. Chi-Chi wear this helmet in every games that features her as a child. Chi-Chi Helmet_Beam.jpg|That Won't Work Chi-Chi Helmet_Blade.jpg|Stay Away From Me! Also noted that the company owned by Bulma's father, Capsule Corporation developed transformable capsules which said item may had inspired from the concept of Ultraseven's Capsule Monsters. These capsules firstly appeared in one of Akira Toriyama's one-shot manga, The Adventures of Tongpoo. Ranma ½ In episode 62, Ranma and Ryoga are racing against each other in a desert wasteland in order to win a trip to China. One of the obstacles they encounter is a sand trap with a robot bearing the appearance of an Alien Baltan. In episode 94, an old man is shown wearing a green Ultraman mask. Urusei Yatsura Ultraman and his kaiju enemies appear multiple times in this series and its movies. Ultimate Muscle Mantaro Kinniku, the main character for Ultimate Muscle had his name being originated from Ultraman Taro. Similarly, the series they starred in originally portrayed as lighthearted and humorous but in certain occasions, there were also matured and cold scenes. But even if that's the case, if looked closely on Mantaro's mask, it bears a head crest which appeared to be based on Ultraseven's Eye Slugger. Pokémon In a episode of the Advanced series called 'A Corphish Out of Water', Team Rocket mimics Alien Baltan while they were performing their motto. Digimon Adventure Agumon's Champion form, Greymon was inspired from the Ultra Kaiju Gomora. This is clearly visible by the Digimon's durable cranial skin, mimicking said Kaiju's horn. In episode 51, Piemon, the Clown from Hell, the title screen features Piemon rising in a similar manner to Ultraman's rising sequence. Greymon_in_Digimon_Adventure.jpg|Greymon Piedmon_rise.jpg|Piemon rising in the title screen. Sgt. Forg/Keroro Gunso Sgt. Frog, called Keroro Gunso in Japan or Sgt. Keroro in certain region in the world was made by Mine Yoshizaki. Both anime and manga had a small relation with several companies such as Bandai and Toei, explaining the existence of multiple parodies from famous Japanese franchises and shows (Ultraman, Gundam, Kamen Rider, Metal Hero, Super Sentai, etc). - Wettle King= Wettle King or named Wettle Man (pun of Ultraman) in the manga is a character in the series Keroro Gunso. He debuted in episode 113. Wettle King was a genetically modified slug by Kururu under orders from Keroro, who saw that Natsumi Hinata is afraid of slugs. The modification turned Wettle King into a humanoid being who resembles a green Ultraman, Iron King and Mirrorman with tiny eyes and feelers on his head. Though he has 1000 times the strength of a normal slug, he was still quite weak, but his attacks worked against Natsumi because she was so much revolted by his viscosity. Fuyuki, however, was able to defeat him with a finger. Unless he's in an ambiance with very high humidity, he can only fight for 4 minutes and 44 seconds before he has to recharge himself with water. Despite Keroro's intentions, Wettle King's spirit of righteousness forbade him from harming Natsumi, and he flew off into deep space in the end to find some place where he could be useful, until his powers were needed once again. Wettle King returned in episode 215, gaining new abilities like creating human disguises, much like certain Ultras in their series. He posed himself as Tohru Uetsu, a motorcycle-riding, smooth-talking (and incredibly clumsy) photojournalist, along with playing a trumpet during his entrance scene, he is reminiscent of Hayato Icimonji, the second Kamen Rider and his costume was a parody to Ichiro of Kikaider 01. When Keroro created seven Fake Wettle Kings (each wears different scarves and boots), he sent them to attack Natsumi until Wettle King saved her. Wettle King transforms in a similar manner to Choichiro Hikari transforms into Ultraman Joneus. He later managed to pursue them to join his side and together, they fired an Ultra Beam-esque attack to Keroro and Keruru. Despite all of them returned to space, but a Nyororo consumes them and mutated into Nyorowettle King. At the Keroro Platoon's space base, Nyorowettle King turned into clones and attack the base. Wettle King appeared and attacked . After the base is destroyed, he managed to save the Fake Wettle Kings' original slug template. - Underground People= In part 2 of episode 197, everyone was trying to figure out what was wrong with Keroro due to his obsession for drilling holes. Kululu explain this by presenting pictures of hole-based things like anniversary rock records, female news reporter (in Japan, female news reported read as since the word is close to ), entering Kotatsu (in Japan, it pronounces more like digging in since kotatsu is a small table), a mole and others. Among them were a picture of the female member of Underground People, marking her small cameo appearances in the episode. - Copy Robots= The Keroro Platoon possessed robotic copies of themselves called Keroro Platoon Double which Kululu made to replace them whenever they took a day off, as well as taking care of the household chores at the Hinata residence. The Keroro Platoon's robotic imitators could not only imitate Keronians (their race) but also other humans. While imitating a Keronian, the duplicates disguise had a little defect, much like Alien Zarab as imitation Ultramen, they had slanted eyes and curly feet. Humans (and eventually certain aliens) could not see the difference between the robotic Keronians and the real ones, something which in the original Ultraman series portrayed. Despite being used as replacements, but in one episode, Keroro and his platoon tried to use mass-produced version of these as invasion armies. However the plan backfired and ended up with the impostors replacing the Keroro Platoons (including Mois) and the Hinata siblings. It wasn't until the real Tamama (whom was in vacation before the impostors' takeover) destroyed them and free their captives. Kululu rebuild the Keroro Platoon Double but never intended to use them for malicious schemes again. - Ultra Badge= In Dororo Character Special, the Ultra Badge made a cameo appearance among the objects that messed in the Keroro Platoon's desk during their meeting. - Capras= In part 2 of episode 151 Sgt. Frog, when Fuyuki accidentally logged into the Real Adventure Game, a game where the player would face a monster in reality, he, Natsumi, Keroro and Giroro were force to fend themselves against a monster which was homage to Jirass. According to Fuyuki, the monster resembles a giant Chupacabra with a frill on its neck, much like how the Jirass suit were simply the first Godzilla suit added with a frill on the neck. Also, when Capras fought an enlarged Giroro, he ripped off Capras' frill similar to Ultraman's fight against Jirass. - ZZZ & Gan Q= A gigantic (yet destructive) parody of Zetton appeared in episode 153 and 154. Here, he is called or simply called ZZZ (since the series' main characters complained its name as a tongue twister) whose main objective is to destroy planets and consume action figures. To keep in touch with the original Zetton from Ultra Series, he was stated to have a weakness in his right foot, which was based on George's claim in Ultraman Mebius that Zetton's weakness are his feet. The episode 154 even featured Gan Q making his cameo appearances among the aliens but his head was shrunken to fit normal heads with slight alterations like removed antennae was made. }} A Certain Magical Index In the light novel, Kiyotaka Haimura mentions that he purposely designs the Accelerator's outfit to that of a Tokusatsu hero. In one illustration, the Accelerator had his shirt resembles that of the original Ultraman's iconic torso marking. Lucky Star During the theme song, Konata Izumi does the Specium Ray pose. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya During the Endless Eight arc, boot leg masks of the popular tokusatsu and anime characters appear at a Bon Festival, and Yuki Nagato always buys the one resembling Ultraman. Gin Tama *The whole plot in episode 93 were parodied from the original Ultraman. The character of the week, Spacewoman bears resemblance to Ultraman, even sharing same statistics such as height and weight. Among the monster she defeated in the past had a similar appearance to King Joe, Takkong and Gomora. His lover, Hiroshi, whom also a giant like her also had the appearance to that of Ultraman, despite his blue color, but if looked closely, he seemingly had a necktie-like shape on his chest, referring to the SSSP's uniforms. The episode's villain, Space Cherry Colonel had his appearance (excluding the head) being near-identical to Alien Viyell. *In episode 194 of Gintama, Isao Kondou stated that he comes from the Snot Nebula M78, referencing the home planet of the Ultras. Jaco the Galactic Patrolman , is an eleven-chapter comedy manga by Akira Toriyama. It ties in with his Dragon Ball manga. It is part of Toriyama's "Galactic Patrol series", along with Sachi-chan Gū!! and Jiya. The main character, Jaco was designed after Ultraman and Frieza's fourth form from Dragonball. Haitai Nanafa Moe anthropomorphisms of King Joe, Eleking, Alien Temperor, Zetton and Alien Mefilas made their appearance in the 20th episode of the series. Nanafa kaijuu.jpg|Alien Temperor, Eleking, and King Joe Haitai_z-ton.jpg|Zetton Haitai_kaijuu.jpg|Alien Mefilas and Alien Temperor Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W When Nyaruko said that leave the job to the Space Guards from the Land of Light, this mirrors the Space Garrison Team from the Land of Light in the Showa Universe of the Ultra Series. Yet, she even perform the well-known Specium Ray pose. - Episode 12= The scene where Mahiro trapped in a crystal, Nyaruko's dialogue "This is the light!", and the light that revives Mahiro is a reference to the scene in Episode 52 of Ultraman Tiga, where Daigo was revived and managed to become Tiga again to face Gatanozoa. - Brave Love, Tiga= In Haiyore! Nyaruko-san Cthulhu Cover Mini Album, Ultraman Tiga's ending theme, Brave Love, Tiga, was featured among the albums with it's singer is Wataru Hatano, whom voices Takehiko Yoichi in said anime. }} Yo-Kai Watch *Yokai Baku, the Yokai of the week in episode 19 of Yo-Kai Watch casts all of Keita's classmates into slumber in order to consume their dreams. One of them, Kuma, dreams himself as Super Kuma Man, a gigantic humanoid hero which appears to be a parodied version of Ultraman though retained his human head, fighting a kaiju and eliminates it with Kuma Beam (a parody of Ultra Beam). He even uttered Ultraman's signature grunt, Shuwatch!. Also to be noted that there is the digit number "90" on his chest, which is a slight reference to Ultraman 80. *In a commercial for season two (episode 77 in overall seasons) of Yo-Kai Watch, Inaho Misora, one of the new protagonists performs an Ultra Beam pose when she introduced herself (she shouts "Shuwatch", which is a reference to the word "watch" from Yo-Kai Watch). It is also noted that Inaho is an Otaku and a fan of science fiction stories, having mistaken Yokai races for aliens, further cementing another trope of the Ultra Series. Super_Kuma-man.jpg|Super Kuma-man Inaho_Misora_Ultra_Beam.png|Inaho Misora Yuki Yuna is a Hero When the girls first transform, many of their poses reference Ultra rises. This could also be a reference to the fact that this magical girl series has the heroes fighting daikaiju as opposed to smaller opponents. Wooser's Hand-to-Mouth Life In the third season's first episode, "wooser's hand to mouth life is back again", Wooser was piloting the Mecha Wooser and win against a space armada. But in the aftermath of the battle, he and his mecha robot left stranded in space, until he finds himself in a luminous light, where Ultraman Zero (accompanied by the Ultimate Force Zero), encourages him and thus helping Wooser to return to Earth. Zero makes his appearance again as a poster in Wooser's room and again as action figures alongside his UFZ teammates. The third season's episode had made collaboration with Tsuburaya Productions, yet coincidentally, Wooser shares the same voice actor to Ultraman Zero, Mamoru Miyano. Wooser x Ultraman Zero 2.PNG|The Ultimate Force Zero Wooser x Ultraman Zero 3.PNG|Wooser meets Pigmon Wooser x Ultraman Zero 4.PNG|Wooser as he greeted by his friends and Alien Metron. Wooser x Ultraman Zero 5.PNG|The Ultimate Force Zero action figures. Wooser x Ultraman Zero 6.PNG|Rin cosplaying as an Ultra Garrison and an Ultraman Zero poster. Wooser x Ultraman Zero 7.PNG|The episode's illustration, drawn by Masayuki Goto. Category:Browse Category:Other Media